The Snail and The Whale Review

Last Tuesday, we were incredibly lucky to get last minute tickets to see The Snail and The Whale stage play that was showing at The Lowry.
It was being performed by Tall Stories Theatre Company.
I was really excited as it is a fabulous story by Julia Donaldson, that makes an appearance fairly frequently in our house at bedtime.
I was really looking forward to it as I couldn't imagine how it could be transformed onto the stage as it is mainly a book based in the sea with a huge whale!
When we arrived at theatre I realised this was going to be a very popular show. There were lots of parents there, with children, ranging from babies up to about 10 years old.  The show actually states from 3 years up and to be honest, I think that is more appropriate rather than to bring babies. It just isn't geared to them and there was a bit of crying and a few little ones were taken out.
As we were all getting settled in our seats, a lady was playing the violin, which I thought was a lovely touch. The two other actors were also interacting with the audience, talking to the children, getting into character and playing a game of hide and seek between father and daughter, which was actually part of the first scene. Very clever!
As the play began, the lady playing the violin, began talking and we realised that she was the young girl in the play, all grown up. There were just the three actors and they were all of a very high standard. The man was the dad, one of the girls was his daughter and the lady playing the violin was the daughter grown up who narrated the story and provided the wonderful music.
Without spoiling the play too much, the story of the tiny snail was seen through the eyes of the young girl and her father who was going off to sea. It was very cleverly done and provided us with the story but from a slightly different view point. As for the whale, that was great, and made from furniture from the girls bedroom set, and was set up in different positions on the stage so it could be viewed from different sides throughout the play.
The play really gripped the children and also interacted with them. There was some singing and a bit of shouting, during the game of hide and seek, which everyone joined in with.
The play was about an hour long, which was just right for the age it was for. Megan and Ben really enjoyed it and Ben in particular has been talking a lot about it since we went.
And for me, I thought it was excellent. Far better than I thought it would be. The quality of the acting was superb and the set was amazing.
We were even given a souvenir programme to bring away, that Megan has now put in her scrap book!